Living and working in the Midwest isn’t bad at all. The cost of living is generally less expensive, and as a result, the cost of doing business is generally lower. Plus, you have to factor in that Midwestern politeness that visitors see everywhere.
There is one drawback to living in the Midwest: tornadoes. Although our technology has improved incredibly in recent years, natural disasters—like tornadoes—are no less destructive. The tornadoes that hit Joplin, Mississippi, in 2011, and more recently in Moore, Oklahoma, were some of the deadliest in the last century in a half—at least, since scientists began keeping records.
How Much Do Tornadoes Cost?
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an average of 1,253 tornadoes happen every year. In 2012 alone, the losses were enormous: 70 people were killed, 822 injured. NOAA also estimated that there was around $1.65 billion in damages. The tornadoes that happened in 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma, were extremely costly and fatal.
Everyone knows about Tornado Alley, that swatch of land in the center of the country that stretches from South Dakota down to Texas. In this area, tornadoes happen at rates disproportionately higher than elsewhere. However, that does not mean that they only happen in those states. The mid-November tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, and other Midwest states show that tornadoes are and will continue to be a serious threat anywhere in the U.S.
How Do You Keep Information Safe?
Cloud backup could be what allows your company to recover after a natural disaster, like a tornado. If your data is stored online, you will be able to access it from anywhere. So even if the office is destroyed and the computers have been thrown into the clouds, you will still be able to do your job. By hiring a company that organizes and encrypts the files, your data will be secure and easy to access for anyone who is authorized.
Although the chances of a tornado hitting your office and destroying all of your computers are not that great, that does not mean that it cannot happen. The one NOAA statistic that you don’t want to ignore is that tornadoes happen in all 50 states. You have to think ahead, just in case. Weather systems are unpredictable, but the security of your data should not be.
If you need a secure solution to encrypt and organize your data for secure storage in the cloud, we might suggest having a look at Echopath’s cloud backup solution to make sure that you’re protected in the event of a tornado, or any other disaster.